“We didn’t play very well tonight,” said Ferriter, whose team shot only 39 percent (11 of 28) from the free-throw line. “But we did just enough to win.”

Ware attributed the close outcome to his team’s ineffectiveness from the foul line.

“We just couldn’t hit them tonight,” said Ware, who made three of his 11 attempts. “We do good in practice, but we just don’t hit them in games.”

Coby Cates’ steal and resulting layup gave the Cougars their only second-half lead at 39-38 with 2:05 remaining in the third quarter, but Silverado refused to roll over.

Justin Johnson made a desperation 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer to give the Skyhawks a 47-44 advantage heading into the fourth.

Silverado, which controlled the backboards throughout, finally pulled away with a 6-0 run that Ware capped with a free throw at the 3:20 mark to make it 56-49.

“We really spend a lot of time on defense first and rebounding second,” Ferriter said. “Rarely in high school basketball do you lose a game if you outrebound the other team.”

The Cougars made five 3-pointers, but their long-distance efficiency dwindled down the stretch. They were forced to foul repeatedly over the final 1:20, and Silverado made just enough of its free throws to hang on.

“This was the inaugural year for this tournament,” Ferriter said. “It’s nice to say that we were the first to win it.”

Johnson finished with 20 points, five rebounds and two steals for the Skyhawks, and teammate Ruben Jackson added 17 points, eight rebounds and three steals.

Cates scored 19 points to lead the Cougars.

Ware got Silverado off to a 6-2 lead by logging four points and five rebounds in the first three minutes.

But the Cougars answered each run by the Skyhawks, and the lead changed hands nine times in the first half.

Although the score was tied at 14 at the end of the first quarter, Silverado began to take control late in the second.

Ware’s layup with 2:05 remaining gave the Skyhawks a 28-21 lead before Canby answered once again, cutting the deficit to 30-26 at halftime.